Testosterone Replacement Therapy in Wolf Trap, VA

The Richmond Ballet will perform John Butler’s “Carmina Burana” and Ma Cong’s “Thrive.” Richmond Symphony and Chorus, the City Choir of Washington and vocal soloists from the Wolf Trap Opera will accompany the dance performances.

This performance will be the first time that Richmond Ballet has performed on the main stage at Wolf Trap’s 7,028 seat outdoor amphitheater.

“It’s always been a dream of mine for the Richmond Ballet to perform at Wolf Trap. It’s one of the most iconic outdoor performing arts venues in the country and the only national park dedicated to presenting the performing arts,” Stoner Winslett, artistic director for the Ballet, said. “It will be a gorgeous show to see outside at Wolf Trap on a summer evening.”

The ambitious, show-stopping production will feature 16 dancers from the Richmond Ballet, over 60 musicians from the Richmond Symphony and roughly 120 to 150 singers.

“It will be an exhilarating show highlighting Virginia’s best dancers, singers and musicians,” Winslett said. Tickets to the Wolf Trap performance start at $33.

The Wolf Trap performance has been several years in the making.

The Richmond Ballet’s managing director, Brett Bonda, met Wolf Trap CEO and President Arvind Manocha through the Advisory Board for the Arts. The Richmond Ballet invited Manocha to Richmond in the fall of 2019 to attend a performance of “Carmina Burana” at the Dominion Energy Center.

“Mr. Manocha was so impressed that he invited Richmond Ballet to perform the same piece at Wolf Trap in August of 2020,” Winslett said. But because of the COVID-19 pandemic, that original performance was cancelled. Now, three years later, the performance has finally been rescheduled.

“We are very excited to once again be invited to perform at this truly legendary venue,” Winslett said.

Ma Cong’s “Thrive” will be performed before “Carmina Burana.” Cong is Richmond Ballet’s associate artistic director. He choreographed “Thrive” last year, and the English composer, Oliver Davis, came to watch the performance.

“It was a huge hit,” Winslett said. The entire performance of “Carmina Burana” and “Thrive” should take around two hours, she said.

But if you do not want to make the nearly two-hour drive from Richmond to Wolf Trap, the Richmond Ballet will be performing “Carmina Burana” along with Cong’s “Thrive” with the Richmond Symphony at the Dominion Energy Center Sept. 22-24. Tickets, which start at $25, will go on sale Aug. 1 and can be purchased at etix.com.

Two-time Grammy Award winner and Virginia native Jason Mraz is currently on tour, promoting his new album Mystical Magical Rhythmical Radical Ride. Mraz, who won Grammys for “Make it Mine” and “Lucky” with Colbie Caillet performs for the first time at Wolf Trap on August 6.

Mraz talks to Northern Virginia Magazine about his new album, the Jason Mraz Foundation that supports arts education and the advancement of equality, and what it will be like coming back to his home state.

Congrats on your new album. Tell us more about the vibe you were going for.

Touring last summer was quite insightful because we were able to test out new songs and get a feel for what songs the audience was not into. What they were telling us was that they wanted to stay on their feet and dance. So, we went into the studio to try and make a dance album. It’s been a bucket list item of mine for years. I knew it wasn’t going to be electronic dance music. I had to still figure out how my band and I could pull it off. I’ve made pop music my whole life, I’ll admit that. I stayed in that lane. Looking for new experiences, still, we’d never attempted to do something so up. We set out to make something you could dance to.

I’m always writing from wherever I am in life. I’m in my mid-40s, and it’s long enough to look back and see that I’ve been on a ride. I’m still optimistic about how much of that ride and time I have left, even though time is no guarantee. There’s a preciousness to the optimism on this record. I love this record and how it came out. There’s a freedom to it, and still a fresh naivete to it, but there’s also a little more learned experience and maturity inside of it as well.

What can people who go to your Wolf Trap concert expect to see?

It’s a Technicolor dream show. I’ve got all my best friends with me, 12 of us on stage including me. It’s a colorful recollection of my songs but celebrating the new album, too. We don’t play the new album in its own entirety. The way the new album feels and sounds is how we dress up the old songs as well. We’re also able to play some old songs I’ve never been able to play before because I didn’t have the personnel to help me recreate the song the way it’s recorded on the album. It’s a sonically big and beautiful and fun show. We don’t take ourselves too seriously, so it’s relaxed, too, with audience interaction, whimsy, and a whole lot of dancing.

Are you looking forward to getting back to your home state? Do you have any favorite places to visit in Virginia?

I would go see shows at Wolf Trap growing up in my high school years. In those formative years, I was going to concerts and daydreaming about your life. My daydreaming about my life was being on a big stage one day. I’ve never performed at Wolf Trap, so for me it’s quite exciting because I’ve seen so many shows there as a kid. Specifically, Ani DiFranco and Bob Dylan were big ones for me. I was a fan of both, guitar for Ani and, of course, Bob Dylan for his legendary songwriting.

When I saw Wolf Trap was on the tour schedule, I was very excited about coming back because it gives my family the chance to come up from Richmond to see me and have a bit of a reunion that day. It will be an extra special day on tour.

It seems like you are very dedicated to a lot of important causes. Can you tell us more about the Jason Mraz Foundation or other issues you’re passionate about?

I am sensitive to all the issues. It’s kind of hard to live in this world because everything from climate to equality, social justice, criminal justice, they all need our constant attention and help. I feel like unfortunately this country has been kind of bought and sold and far from the people.

Where I feel like I succeed because I’m an entertainer and performer is the arts education lane. I feel like I can connect with young people and help give them resources and great opportunities for them to pursue not just the arts but an experience of inclusion, acceptance, and compassion, which I think the arts are great at.

The foundation provides grants and scholarships to programs all around the country to help young people get involved in local arts programs. I feel like my superpowers really work best when they’re connected to the arts, so that’s where I tend to do my work.

You just released Mystical Magical Rhythmical Radical Ride. What are your plans for the rest of the year?

We have a program in schools from October to February in San Diego at eight different participating schools. After this tour, I won’t be touring for the rest of the year. I’ll be spending more time doing the foundation program and a television project that I can’t mention much about yet, unfortunately.

It gives me the ability to work from home and still contribute to society. I’ll resume touring probably next summer.

Feature image of Jason Mraz by Shervin Lainez courtesy Ashley White PR

For more stories like this, subscribe to Northern Virginia Magazine’s Things to Do newsletter.

This past Wednesday night’s performance at Wolf Trap’s Filene Center was a historic event. John Butler’s “Carmina Burana” premiered in 1959. Original cast member and icon of American dance, Carmen de Lavallade, was in attendance to receive the Richmond Ballet’s Lifetime Achievement in Dance award. This is only the sixth time the company has extended this honor since their inception in 1957. After dress rehearsal, the dancers gathered in an adoring circle on stage around de Lavallade for one last pep talk from their mentor. “Keep doing what you’re doing,” she said before reminding them to listen to the music. “Music is food for the soul” and when you’re in the zone “you become part of the sound.”

“Carmina Burana…felt like a celebration of the theatrical power to embody the range of possibilities of the human condition—from sensual and joyous to angsty and tortured by fate.

The evening began with Richmond Ballet Artistic Director Stoner Winslett introducing the program, the lifetime achievement award, and the award’s presenter, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin. The governor’s appearance seemed to cause audible distress in the audience as a chorus of groans echoed all the way back to the lawn. When de Lavallade came to the stage, she received a long, standing ovation. There was a specific dissonance between the woman of color, famous for breaking barriers in dance, and the man presenting her with the award. However, it cannot be denied that de Lavallade’s contributions to American culture and identity are deserving of both the award and the honor of recognition by the Governor’s office.

While “Carmina Burana” was certainly the main event, the program began with “Thrive,” an original neoclassical ballet by Richmond Ballet Associate Artistic Director Ma Cong. This was the first time that the work had been performed with live music featuring a specially rearranged score by English composer Oliver Davis (who was in attendance), It was performed by the Richmond Symphony, Richmond Symphony Chorus, The City Choir of Washington and conducted by Erin Freeman. The crux of “Thrive” was in its partnering work which was executed with seeming effortlessness as Sabrina Sabino, Jack Miller, Izabella Tokev, Naomi Wood, Zacchaeus Page, and Aleksey Babayev whipped and flipped into one lifted position after another.

After a brief intermission it was finally time for “Carmina Burana.” Just as de Lavallade had said, it was all about the music. Carl Orff’s score—based on secular verses recovered from the library of a medieval Bavarian monastery—leans heavily into the spectacular. From the epic, cinematic “O fortuna” which opens and closes the piece, to the soaring vocal lines and dance music that sounds like it was taken from a medieval rave, every aspect of the score is already theatrical and programatic. The singers from Wolf Trap Opera—tenor Lunga Eric Hallam, soprano Esther Tonea, and baritone Daniel Rich—joining the dancers on stage and the chorus extending halfway down both sides of the house only added to the immersive drama. Dancers (and the National Strategic Reserve of Abdominals) Cody Beaton, Eri Nishihara, Ira White, and Khaiyom Khojaev seemed to revel both in the musicality and the physicality of the work. They were animated by the music, but without cartoonish determinism where the choreography just looks the way the music sounds. If music is food for the soul, they were at an all-you-can-eat buffet.

“Carmina Burana” was considered exceptionally erotic when it premiered in the middle of the last century. With its revealing costumes and suggestive, “profane” subject matter it still carries that valence with not insignificant force. At the end of the evening, it still felt less overtly sexual than many of today’s youth dance competitions. Rather than simply being erotic, the entire work, from low notes to high legs, felt like a celebration of the theatrical power to embody the range of possibilities of the human condition—from sensual and joyous to angsty and tortured by fate. Even though it is clearly recognizable as a work of dance from the 1950s, it has been consistently performed for over 60 years for a good reason.

If you were unable to attend Wednesday’s performance at Wolf Trap, Richmond Ballet, The Richmond Symphony and Chorus, and the City Choir of Washington will reprise both “Thrive” and “Carmina Burana” on September 22-24, 2023 as part of Richmond Ballet’s fall season.

Running Time: Approximately one hour and 45 minutes including one intermission.

“Carmina Burana” was performed by Richmond Ballet on August 30, 2023 at Wolf Trap’s Filene Center, 1551 Trap Road Vienna, VA 22182. A digital program from the event can be found here. More information about Richmond Ballet and their upcoming productions is available on their website. For more information and tickets for upcoming performances at Wolf Trap, go online.

Directed by Signature Theatre’s Artistic Director Matthew Gardiner, with the Wolf Trap Orchestra conducted by Jon Kalbfleisch, Signature’s resident music director, “Broadway in the Park” was the third annual presentation of Broadway show tunes offered in the summer concert series by Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts. This year’s concert featured Broadway stars Megan Hilty and Lea Salonga supplemented by eight of Signature’s local talent. The twenty songs were presented in solo, duet, and trio format and represented Broadway shows ranging from 1937 to 2017. About half of the songs were unfamiliar to me and my companion, both seniors and Broadway aficionados. The printed program did not list the songs or the shows from which they came but if you had a smart phone, you could scan and view Wolf Trap’s digital program book.

The evening was fun…strong, effective, and beautifully presented…The men supplied strong vocals as well as interesting and interpretive choreography.

After the orchestra played the overture to 1956’s “My Fair Lady,” the show got off to a rousing start with the 1963 song “On Broadway” featured in “Smokey Joe’s Café” (1995) and “Beautiful – The Carole King Musical” (2013). It was performed by lead singer Felicia Curry with back-up by Katie Mariko Murray and Tracy Lynn Olivera. “New York, New York” from “On the Town” (1944) introduced Phillip Attmore, Austin Colby, and Kevin McAllister to the audience in yet another rousing rendition. I have a particular passion for powerful emotional solos and was not disappointed. Katie Mariko Murray’s “Johnny One-Note” from “Babes in Arms”(1937), Nova V. Payton’s “Music that Makes Me Dance” from “Funny Girl” (1964 and currently in revival on Broadway) and Tracy Lynn Olivera’s “There Won’t Be Trumpets” from “Anyone Can Whistle” (1964) were strong, effective, and beautifully presented.

The men supplied strong vocals as well as interesting and interpretive choreography. Austin Colby and Bobby Smith presented a version of “You’re Nothing Without Me” from “City of Angels” (1989) in which their stage movements defined the song’s lyrics as well as their voices. Phillip Attmore’s “Too Darn Hot” from “Kiss Me Kate” (1948) was spectacular—his exuberant stage presence and tap dancing caused the audience to applaud mid-performance! Kevin McAllister’s “Being Alive” from “Company” (1970) provided the audience with a strong baritone interpreting the meaningful lyrics.

The featured performers brought their own well-known musical numbers and personalities to the stage. Megan Hilty sang songs from her very popular TV musical drama “Smash” (2012) and her Broadway appearance as Glinda, the Good Witch in “Wicked” (2003). She related some stories about her career and closed her set with “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend” from the 1953 movie “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” and the Broadway musical “Lorelei” (1974). Lea Salonga sang songs from her award-winning Broadway shows “Miss Saigon” (1989) and “Les Miserables” (1980), with arrangements and orchestrations by her brother, Gerald Salonga. She also sang “Send in the Clowns” from “A Little Night Music” (1973) and told the audience she was looking forward to headlining a London production of “Old Friends” (a revue tribute to Stephen Sondheim) with Bernadette Peters this coming fall. Her set ended with a duet, “For Good” from “Wicked” with Megan Hilty.

The entire cast concluded the performance with, surprisingly, not a show tune, but “This Is Me” from the 2017 movie “The Greatest Showman.” The evening was fun and productive and we enjoyed discussing the lesser known song performances while waiting to leave the huge, crowded parking area.

Running Time: 90 minutes with no intermission.

“Broadway in the Park” was presented on June 16, 2023, at the Filene Center at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, 1551 Trap Road, Vienna VA 22182. For information about upcoming shows at Wolf Trap and to purchase tickets, visit online. For shows at Signature Theatre, visit online.

The Virginia music venue Wolf Trap released its lineup of over 50 nights of shows for summer 2023.

VIENNA, Va. — While it might feel like summer is far away -- I mean, it snowed this morning -- it is never too early to start daydreaming about warm and sunny days with loud music in the air.

The Virginia music venue Wolf Trap released its lineup of over 50 nights of shows for summer 2023. John Legend, Charlie Puth, Sting, The Avett Brothers and Babyface were just some of the artists expected to perform.

Brandi Carlile will headline Wolf Trap's Out & About Festival on June 24-25, joining Yola Lucius and Jake Wesley Rogers for a two-day celebration of music, nature and pride across three outdoor stages.

“The shows we’re announcing today are quintessentially ‘Wolf Trap,’ with extraordinary artists spanning genres and generations,” said Arvind Manocha, President and CEO of Wolf Trap Foundation.

Wolf Trap will also include performances from the National Symphony Orchestra, American Ballet Theatre, and Wolf Trap Opera's season. And yes, the beloved NSO movie nights weill return, featuring Star Wars: Return of the Jedi and Jurassic Park concerts.

Tickets will go on sale to the public for all announced performances on Friday, Feb. 17 at 10 a.m. Wolf Trap members have access to presales tickets ahead of the general sale. Those members (donors of $80 and up) can purchase tickets now.

Below is the full schedule of Filene Center performances announced so far:

Full schedule and details on how to snag tickets can be found here.

Related Articles

WUSA9 is now on Roku and Amazon Fire TVs. Download the apps today for live newscasts and video on demand.

Download the WUSA9 app to get breaking news, weather and important stories at your fingertips.

Sign up for the Get Up DC newsletter: Your forecast. Your commute. Your news.

Sign up for the Capitol Breach email newsletter, delivering the latest breaking news and a roundup of the investigation into the Capitol Riots on January 6, 2021.